ALBERTSONS AND MILK-BONE TEAM FOR SPECIAL POLICE DOG DONATION

Feb, 20, 2007 - WINTER HAVEN, Florida — In honor of two fallen police officers from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Albertsons and Milk-Bone partnered to donate $5,000 to the county’s K9 police unit through the Milk-Bone Canine Heroes program. The event was held at the Albertsons store location at 1965 Eighth Street in Winter Haven, Florida.

In September of 2006, an incident occurred while chasing a suspect that led to the unfortunate and untimely passing of Polk County Deputy Sheriff Matt Williams and his K9 partner Diogi. In memory of the officers, representatives with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Canine Unit accepted the $5,000 donation from Albertsons and Milk-Bone which will be used to offset the purchase of a new dog for the K-9 unit.

“We are honored to partner with Milk-Bone as we welcome a new addition to the Polk County Sheriffs Office Canine Unit” said Tom Wilson, Vice President of Operations, Albertsons Florida Division. “Albertsons is proud to support all the brave men, women and canines of the Polk County Sheriffs Office. This donation is our way of saying thank you… for your hard work, dedication and sacrifice in keeping the community safe and secure.”

This event marked the 69th dog donated to a law enforcement agency from Milk-Bone and Albertsons. Since the first donation in 1997, Milk-Bone has donated over 500 police and service dogs nation-wide.

“Being part of a smaller, privately held organization, we can now accomplish things at the local level that were not practical before. We will have a more targeted focus on what is right for the customer and be able to make those decisions much more quickly and closer to them,” Miller commented.